Pantes theoi, Polemos and Ares on the Battlefield. The Greek Concept of the War Deity

The idea of dividing domains or honours (timai) in the world of the divine is of Greek provenance and dates back to Homer’s time. The Iliad contains the statement that matters of war are the concern of Ares and Athena. The concept of a divine division of spheres of influence must have been very popular in Plutarch’s and Lucian’s day, since they cite the view that each of the gods has his own field of action. At the same time the source materials, starting from Homer himself, argue that the concept of war as the domain of Ares and Athena remains merely an antique declarative form, and that all of the gods are engaged in military activities. If a list were created of divine beings participating at least once in a war or battle, or present in military ideology, it would be extremely long and would not lack even nymphs and muses. In martial contexts, Greek authors often included the concepts of “all the gods” (pantes theoi), “the gods” (theoi), “god” (theos), divine being (daimonion) and holy power (hieros), which signify interference by unidentified divine forces. The Hellenes believed also that local gods and heroes, connected with a particular territory, took part in battles. They created a concept of potential military engagement by all the gods. The relationship between war and gods may thus be defined ex definitione. The question arises as to the basis of this way of thinking. It seems that the answer should be sought in the basic definition of war – polemos. War is only occasionally personified. The answer to the question of why Polemos never became a clearly defined divine figure and mythological hero can be found in Homer. In the Iliad many deities, although not all, have military might (polemos) at their disposal and participate in directing martial activities. It is for this very reason that this force never became an independent one – war arises as a result of what can be termed a divine “chain reaction”. The existence of war is thus dependent on the gods who make it active as the result of a stimulus. It is significant that Ares, just like Polemos, is not fully autonomous. Other deities also carry out the “work of Ares”.The Hellenes created a concept of potential military engagement by all the gods. In martial contexts, Greek authors often included the concepts of “all the gods” (pantes theoi), “the gods” (theoi), “god” (theos), divine being (daimonion) and holy power (hieros), which signify interference by unidentified divine forces. The relationship between war and gods may thus be defined ex definitione. The question arises as to the basis of this way of thinking. It seems that the answer should be sought in the basic definition of war – polemos. War is only occasionally personified. The answer to the question of why Polemos never became a clearly defined divine figure and mythological hero can be found in Homer. In the Iliad many deities, although not all, have military might (polemos) at their disposal and participate in directing martial activities. It is for this very reason that this force never became an independent one – war arises as a result of what can be termed a divine “chain reaction”. The existence of war is thus dependent on the gods who make it active as the result of a stimulus. It is significant that Ares, just like Polemos, is not fully autonomous. Other deities also carry out the “work of Ares”

Kulawy, zapracowany bękart – Hefajstos. Kilka słów o boskiej i ludzkiej pogardzie w starożytnej Grecji

Although the ancient Greeks did not use the concept of tolerance, they were not unfamiliar with the concept of sneer, malicious laugh or mockery. Tolerance, or the lack of it, can be examined on various levels, also on the most important one deriving from the original meaning of the word tolerantia, that is religion. Although the religious system of the ancient Greeks is commonly described as a "tolerant" one, mainly because their faith did not exclude the existence of gods worshipped by other peoples, the Greek gods – understood as a community – committed acts of injustice and discrimination towards each other. Hephaestus proves to be the best example being the closest to a man of all the Olypmic gods. He experienced pain in the world of gods but in a human manner, which would undoubtedly be considered intolerance today. No other god had so many characteristics of an imperfect human being. The ancient imagination made Hephaestus an impaired god – both on the physical and social plane. He was an illegitimate child, he limped and worked by the sweat of his brow doing the job which was not held in high regard by the Greeks. In short words, Hephaestus represented the type held in contempt in Hellenic society. What is interesting, the oldest description of a derisive laugh in European literature belongs to Hephaestus

Czy można skazać na wygnanie posąg byka? Pauzaniasz o greckich banitach

God, city resident, son of a king, orator, sculptor, a box with a woman and a child, a statue of a bull, a statue of an athlete, an axe, iron, wood, stone – is a far from complete list of “outlaws” in Pausanias’ Description of Greece. Periegeta combines all those living and lifeless elements, creating a Hellenic monument. He presents what he thinks was the driving force of history: exiles, escapes, displacements, forced migrations due to wars and fighting for power, murders, competition failures, plagues, poor harvests. It all led to creation of new cities, their names, colonization of new areas, erecting new temples and creating works of art. A detail was to become exceptionally famous both because of its artistic value and life wandering, or even disasters. Art and wandering are given the same value by Pausanias. It is confirmed by the exiled sculptures dealt with in Description. The articles also mentions envious gods as a source of exile and wandering, types of exiles: from common murderers to destructive objects; places and forms of exile, including changing into a stone; monuments to commemorate wicked outlaws and healing quality of exiled objects

Krew i kurzawa w greckiej historiografii klasycznej albo o zmarginalizowanych elementach Homerowego opisu pola bitwy

Contemporary historians believe that Greek historiography emerging on the eve of the classical period adopted numerous elements from the Homeric description of battle scenery. The aim of this paper is to analyze the earliest historical works while looking for the blood and dust, the two greatly important attributes of the Homeric world of warfare. However, it turns out that blood and dust, so intimately associated with the portrayal of the physical site of battle in Homer, did not become a per- manent element in the historical accounts of military clashes in Greek historiography, even though it was an inevitable component of the military experience of historians and their readers.Contemporary historians believe that Greek historiography emerging on the eve of the classical period adopted numerous elements from the Homeric description of battle scenery. The aim of this paper is to analyze the earliest historical works while looking for the blood and dust, the two greatly important attributes of the Homeric world of warfare. However, it turns out that blood and dust, so intimately associated with the portrayal of the physical site of battle in Homer, did not become a per- manent element in the historical accounts of military clashes in Greek historiography, even though it was an inevitable component of the military experience of historians and their readers

CO TRAPIŁO GRECKICH ŻOŁNIERZY? ŻOŁNIERSKIE BOLĄCZKI W ŚWIETLE GRECKIEJ HISTORIOGRAFII OKRESU KLASYCZNEGO

The aim of the paper is to compile a list of typical complaints that a Greek soldier of the Classical period might have had. For that purpose, the author analyses the great war narratives of that time: Histories by Herodotus, History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Xenophon’s Hellenica, Anabasis, and Agesilaus.The aim of the paper is to compile a list of typical complaints that a Greek soldier of the Classical period might have had. For that purpose, the author analyses the great war narratives of that time: Histories by Herodotus, History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Xenophon’s Hellenica, Anabasis, and Agesilaus

The warrior queen. The cult of Hellenistic female rules as the basis of their symbolic participation in military acts

The Hellenistic kings’ mechanism for revealing divine power leaves no conceptual doubt, which is why it is generally accepted that the military deed, with time not necessarily an authentic one, was a major and even central element forming the basis of the cult of the ruler. The question, however, arises as to the framework within which a “military deed” could be performed in the context of the changing ontological status of women, and thus of female Hellenistic rulers. It should be considered that the concept of the military deed of female rulers as the basis of Hellenistic monarchical ideology was certainly not born on the battlefield, where queens basically did not appear. However, in spite of the lack of a military basis, the fighting female ruler is present in Hellenistic ideology. This situation begs the question of whether the armed deed, as in the case of male rulers, was at all necessary to associate the queens with war. Possibly it is a case of the reverse — maybe the military deed was a consequence rather than the cause of the cult of these female rulers, since female historical figures did not change their ontological status as a result of the armed deed

Kleopatra i eros w Żywocie Antoniusza. O nadinterpretacji dzieła Plutarcha

Cleopatra and Eros in Plutarch’s Antonius. On overinterpretation of Plutarch’s work Historians, writers and artists who wanted to pay homage to Cleopatra once again, referred to and still refer to Plutarch’s Life of Antony, first and foremost. It can seem that this main, if not the only ancient work, being quite a compact story about the Egyptian queen, has been ultimately interpreted in numerous review editions and biographies of Cleopatra. However, Plutarch’s Cleopatra has not been analysed as a separate work — excerpts from Life of Antony have always been combined with other sources in order to obtain a single picture. And in belles-lettres, the work of this ancient moralist have been exploited for centuries in such a way that it is no longer Plutarch’s property. Literary works from different epochs, in the form of interpretations, with Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at the head of the list, have distorted the ancient moralist’s message. It turns out that when we reject Shakespeare’s prism that we usually use when examining Plutarch’s Cleopatra and we start to analyse Antony’s biography only in the context of other works written by the moralist of Chaeronea, considering them to be a peculiar comment on Life of Antony, we are able to see a completely different picture to the one we are used to. Divine powers, present on the pages of the ancient work and implicating gods and people in love and desire do not have access to the queen. However, everything suggests that in the case of “the romance of all time” we can see in the moralist’s work something he did not write at all. We refer to Life of Antony and we envisage the character of Cleopatra described by Shakespeare and his successors

Żołnierska terapia na wojenną traumę. Jak odpoczywały armie starożytnego świata greckiego

Żołnierska terapia na wojenną traumę Jak odpoczywały armie starożytnego świata greckiego  Streszczenie:W literaturze przedmiotu wzrasta zainteresowanie psychiką antycznego żołnierza. Uważa się, że podobnie jak współczesny wojskowy, był on narażony na wojenną traumę. Jednakże nie zadaje się pytania, czy w starożytności starano się zapobiegać mentalnym problemom w armii. Czy dbano o utrzymanie żołnierskiej psyche w dobrej kondycji podczas wojny? W artykule podjęto próbę odtworzenia obrazu żołnierza odpoczywającego podczas przerw w działaniach zbrojnych, starającego się ukoić niespokojnego ducha, umilić sobie czas, rozweselić się. Ze względu na ogrom źródeł w rozważaniach ograniczono się do armii świata greckiego, w tym wojska macedońskiego, które stanowiło podstawę formacji hellenistycznych. Soldierly Therapy for Trauma of War  How the Armies of the Ancient Greek World Relaxed Abstract:In the subject literature one can notice a growing interest in the psyche of an ancient soldier. It is thought that he was – like any soldier nowadays – exposed to the trauma of war. However, no one asks a question if there were any efforts in antiquity to prevent mental problems in the army. Did anyone try to keep soldierly mind in a good condition during a war? The article is an effort to reconstruct an image of a soldier who was resting during breaks between military operations, trying to soothe his mind, having a nice time and having fun. Because of the vastness of the sources, the considerations have been limited to the army of the Greek world, including Macedonian army which was the basis of the Hellenistic formations. Słowa kluczowe: grecki żołnierz, wojenna trauma, odpoczynek w armii, psychiatria wojennaKeywords: Greek soldier, combat trauma, leisure in army, military psychiatry